Read "Five Weeks in a Balloon" by Jules Verne online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Former experiments -- The doctor's five receptacles -- The gas cylinder -- The calorifere -- The system of maneuvering -- Success certain.
"The attempt has often been made, gentlemen," said the doctor, "to rise and descend at will, without losing ballast or gas from the balloon. A French aeronaut, M. Meunier, tried to accomplish this by compressing air in an inner receptacle. A Belgian, Dr. Van Hecke, by means of wings and paddles, obtained a vertical power that would have sufficed in most cases, but the practical results secured from these experiments have been insignificant.